Search

The human health damage and social stability caused by public health emergencies have attracted worldwide attention. But there is a lack of research on capacity evaluation of China's community emergency preparedness and response for public health emergencies. We summarized the latest advances in theoretical frameworks and capacity evaluation of community emergency preparedness and response for public health emergencies based on a systematic review and textual analysis of relevant studies, and proposed that future research should pay attention to the building of the capacity of community emergency preparedness and response for public health emergencies and the development of corresponding assessment tools applicable to communities in China. This study will contribute to the assessment, normalization and improvement of the capacity of community emergency preparedness and response for public health emergencies.

Simple Summary: Gene expression analysis by quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) can provide strong evidence for scientists to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying various physiological processes. Selecting appropriate reference genes under specific experimental conditions are prerequisites for achieving the accurate results of qRT-PCR. Here, the expression stability of seven reference genes was evaluated in Chilo sacchariphagus, a destructive pest of sugarcane, under different experimental conditions, encompassing tissues, temperatures, and sexes. The expression patterns of C. sacchariphagus pheromone binding protein 1 gene (CsacPBP1) across three different experimental conditions mentioned above were evaluated to verify the results. The findings of this study will lay an important foundation for the future study on functional gene expressions in the pest. Chilo sacchariphagus (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is an economically important sugarcane pest. Although numerous studies were conducted on the physiological responses in C. sacchariphagus, little is known regarding the genes regulating these physiological processes. Gene expression analysis by qRT-PCR can offer a significant indication for functional gene studies. To our knowledge, the reference genes of C. sacchariphagus have not been screened or evaluated, which hinders the functional gene study. In the present study, the stability of seven reference genes (β-ACT, GAPDH, BTF3, 28S, RPL7, EF1α, and SDHA) was evaluated in C. sacchariphagus under different experimental conditions, including tissues (antenna, head, thorax, abdomen, leg, and wing), temperatures (4 °C, 25 °C, and 37 °C) and sexes (male and female), through RefFinder, which integrates four algorithms (Normfinder, BestKeeper, ΔCt method, and geNorm). The findings suggested that the combination of β-ACT and RPL7 is ideal to analyze gene expressions in different tissues and at distinct temperatures, and EF1α and SDHA were suitable reference genes for comparing gene expressions between sexes. Finally, the expression profiles of CsacPBP1 gene were evaluated, and the outcomes further confirm the importance of selecting fitting reference genes for normalization of qRT-PCR data. This study represents the first kind in screening out suitable reference genes for gene expression analysis in C. sacchariphagus. Information from this study is poised to galvanize future inquiry into the gene expression of C. sacchariphagus, an economically important pest of sugarcane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in conjunction with a reactive force field method, the chemical kinetics of the hydrolysis of titanium tetraisopropoxide (Ti(OC 3 H 7) 4 , TTIP) at high-temperature conditions is investigated. The MD simulations allow for presenting the complete dynamic process of the TTIP conversion at the atomic level. The rate constant of TTIP hydrolysis at 1 atm is estimated to be k = 1.23 × 10 14 × exp (− 11 , 323 / T (K)) mo l − 1 c m 3 s − 1 using a second-order reaction model. On the basis of Ti-containing intermediate species profiles, the evolutions of the main decomposition products during the TTIP hydrolysis are identified and key reaction pathways are elucidated. The results show that the clusters are formed before TiO 2 molecules are observed. During the decomposition, Ti-containing species with one or two C O bonds and carbon-free species with more than two Ti O bonds are formed and undergo two separate pathways. One is the combination via the formation of Ti O Ti bridges, forming early clusters that serve as precursors for large TiO 2 nanoparticles. The other is the further decomposition to smaller molecules such as TiO 2 that participate in the subsequent cluster formation. Interactions between Ti and O atoms in the cluster stabilize the large structure through the abstraction of water and –C x H y groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Key effects of solvent formulations on the structure and morphology of optical-quality yttrium-aluminum nanocomposites using liquid-fed aerosol flame synthesis are investigated. Employing a temperature-controlled flat flame burner with inexpensive nitrates as multi-component precursors, three different solvent formulations, i.e., ethanol, ethanol/2-ethylhexanoic acid (EHA), and butanol, are studied. Adding EHA into ethanol in a 1:1 volume ratio dramatically changes the flame-made yttrium-aluminum oxides from hollow inhomogeneous powders that contain non-uniform large particles to homogeneous nanopowders around 10 nm. As characterized by in-situ phase Doppler anemometry, droplet size with increasing burner height for the EHA/ethanol case remains constant at the beginning, whereas those for both ethanol and butanol cases reduce immediately. EHA likely causes a shift from the droplet-to-particle precipitation route to the gas-to-particle route because of the formed low-boiling-point 2-ethylhexanoates from nitrates via ligand exchange. By replacing ethanol with butanol, hollow particles are produced with better crystallinity because of its high calorific value that helps to heat precursors at the droplet surface. In-situ diagnostics using phase-selective laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy, which tracks only atomic emission from the nanoparticle phase. The result shows that the Al atomic emissions in the EHA/ethanol mixture case gradually increase along the burner height, while those for both ethanol and butanol cases fluctuate, further verifying the favoring of the gas-to-particle route for producing uniform, ultrafine solid multi-oxide particles by adding EHA in solvents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this work, we investigate the flame aerosol deposition of TiO 2 nanoparticles in a well-defined premixed stagnation flame based on two-dimensional phase-selective laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (PS-LIBS). The deposited nanoparticles are in anatase phase with an average size of ∼10 nm. In PS-LIBS measurement, atomic emissions of titanium near the wavelength of 500 nm are extracted by spectral filter lenses and imaged for demonstrating the particle volume fraction distributions. The PS-LIBS signals can well depict the whole process of particle formation and transport, including the rapid gas-to-particle conversion near the flame front, dilution and concentrating of the nanoparticles induced by gas density variations, and dropping of particle volume fractions near the substrate. A quantitative model has been proposed to describe convection, thermophoresis, and diffusion of the nanoparticles. Combining the PS-LIBS measurement and the numerical simulation, it is found that, the nanoparticles concentrate outside the boundary layer at low substrate temperatures due to a joint effect of gas compression and thermophoresis. Further parametric analysis indicates that substrate temperatures and precursor loading rates can strongly affect the particle concentration boundary layer and the particle deposition rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene has been subjected to widespread attention, and its highly extraordinary properties have led to abundant scientific researches. The present study shows that fluffy graphene can ignite in a fairly short time upon exposure to a conventional flash light, even in an extremely low temperature environment. The ignition process is fierce and multi-points are distributed with temperatures as high as 1840K with few residues. This kind of ignition can be attributed to the graphene nanostructure efficiently converting light to heat and causing a large amount of heat to accumulate within a very short flash time with the temperature quickly exceeding the ignition point. It is further demonstrated that graphene can ignite in an environment as low as about −50 °C. When fluffy graphene was added to extremely lean methane/oxygen/nitrogen mixtures, ignition of the mixtures was successfully triggered by flash light. The ignition characteristics make graphene a promising alternative for ignition fields in harsh environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Specialty nurses play a crucial role in specialized nursing practice, teaching, management, and research. These nurses often face significant work pressure; therefore, scientifically and effectively assessing their job stress and its sources is vital for enhancing the quality of their work. However, there is currently a dearth of verified assessment tools for measuring job stressors among specialty nurses. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and test an instrument to assess the job stressors applicable to specialty nurses., Methods: We conducted a multiphase mixed-methods study. The initial scale items were developed from a literature review and structured interviews. The scale was then refined through two rounds of expert consultation ( N  = 14) and a primary test ( N  = 20). A main survey ( N  = 552) was then conducted to evaluate the scale's construct validity and reliability using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA)., Results: The final scale comprises four dimensions with 27 items. The factors included "specialized nursing and work," "workload and time allocation," "patient care," and "work resources and environment." The EFA explained 69.10% of the variance, while the CFA confirmed a good model fit. The content validity index was 0.980 at the scale level and 0.790-1.000 at the item level. The scale's reliability was supported by its high Cronbach's α (0.958), test-retest reliability (0.946), and split-half reliability (0.868)., Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the job stressor scale developed in this study is valid and reliable, and is recommended for use among specialty nurses to assess their stressors., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Zhang, Lin, Li, Li, Wei, Zhang, Zhang, Fang, Guo and Zhang.)